Musings on Recipes, Artisans, Dining and Travel · Mostly Gluten-Free

Pasta Bravo!

While you likely won’t find me making piperade for another batch of confit biyaldi anytime soon, for this pasta it’s so worth the effort. Even better, once it’s made you can have a quick, hearty, piquant pasta on the table in fewer than thirty minutes. It’s also a great way to use up leftover, roasted chicken — a store-bought rotisserie chicken can be used instead — which is awesome for my two-person household as my threshold for its consumption plain is terribly low. As for the name, it’s inspired by my favorite pasta from Bravo! — I dined there a handful of times during my brief stay in the Cleveland area — the creamy roasted pepper sauce was (and is) a unique, welcome divergence from the typical Alfredo or tomato sauce.

Instructions

Cook pasta:

Cook pasta in a pot of salted, boiling water until al dente. Drain well and set aside.

Make sauce:

While pasta cooks, heat a large sauté pan or skillet (10″ – 12″) over medium-high heat. Warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until shimmering and add half of the mushrooms, tossing quickly to coat with oil. Cook, stirring only once or twice, until deep golden brown — about 2 minutes total. Transfer to heatproof plate; set aside. Repeat with another tablespoon olive oil and other half of the mushrooms.

Once mushrooms are cooked, return the sauté pan to the stove and reduce heat to low. Warm last tablespoon oil and cook garlic and red pepper flakes until lightly browned — be sure to stir constantly to prevent garlic from burning and turning bitter. Stir in piperade and heavy cream — careful, it likes to splatter! — and sprinkle in dried basil. Increase temp to medium-low and bring to a simmer.

Toss together and serve:

Once the sauce is simmering, stir in chicken and cook just until reheated. Fold in mushrooms and cooked and drained pasta. Serve immediately with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan on top, if desired.